The Washtenaw Community College Foundation has raised over $8 million over the past 18 months in cash gifts and pledges to support students at Washtenaw Community College. This represents the largest amount of funds ever raised in a collective effort at the college.

Campaign chairs Tim and Laurie Wadhams made the announcement at a celebration ceremony on Oct. 27 at Washtenaw Community College. In attendance were WCC President Dr. Rose B. Bellanca, campaign committee members, WCC Foundation Board of Directors, WCC Board of Trustees members, WCC faculty and staff, alumni and community members.

WCC students to benefit from state-of-the-art equipment in skilled trades programs

The college has been awarded $4.4 million in funding from the state’s Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program (CCSTEP).

The funding will support the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment for education and training related to the planned Advanced Transportation Center, which will provide training for the rapidly growing industries of intelligent transportation systems, advanced manufacturing and automotive transportation servicing.

The 29th annual Mardi Gras fundraiser for the Washtenaw Community College Foundation was another smashing success, raising $111,000 in support of WCC students.

Over 300 people attended the event, which was organized by Board member Tom Lamb and Michelle McClintock as well as Board member Katherine Farrell and Damian Farrell.

The event’s lead sponsors were Tim and Laurie Wadhams. Top sponsors included Maurice and Stephanie Jones, Issac and Delphine Lockhart, Benjamin and Toni Rodgers, Levi and Maria Thompson as well as David and Lynn Wooten.

On March 11, Washtenaw Community College closed a deal to refinance its two outstanding bonds at a significant savings to the college.

“It’s outstanding news,” said Chief Financial Officer William Johnson, vice president of administration and finance. “We are going to save the college more than $1.5 million over the remaining maturity schedule on these two bonds.”

The bonds to which Johnson refers are a 2005 issue earmarked for general campus maintenance and improvements, and a 2006 issue that financed the construction of the college’s popular Health & Fitness Center, which opened in 2007.

(Note: WCC photography instructor Terry Abrams led a trip to Morocco by his Digital Photography Abroad class from May 15-25, 2009. The following is a first-person account of the trip by Mike Wilkinson, a student).

WCC shines the spotlight on commercial art May 3-28 when the vision and creativity of WCC graphic design students goes on display in the College’s Gallery One. An artist reception will be held Wednesday, May 12, at 5:30pm in the Gallery, which is located on the first floor of the Student Center building.

As you look down the pristine halls of WCC’s Technical & Industrial building and beyond the students walking briskly to class, you can almost feel the excitement that heralded its inaugural semester 40 years ago in January 1970. Today, TI is a thriving new environment for a diverse array of disciplines and non-traditional learning programs.

If there is a true Renaissance man on WCC’s campus it may well be motorcycle instructor and department chair Shawn Deron, 36. He is a self-described carpenter, plumber, mechanic, electrician, computer geek, philosopher, avid reader and learner, tool connoisseur, farmer, botanist, etymologist, photographer, entrepreneur, and teacher. But most of all he loves anything to do with speed and bees.

When you step across the threshold of WCC’s Gallery One now through Feb. 24, you are struck with the unsettling feeling that a subtle layer of humanity has been deftly peeled away. That feeling draws you farther into a labyrinth of three-quarter walls and oddly shaped spaces, as you pause thoughtfully at the striking pieces of artwork on display.

Many artists must work outside their passion to pay the bills, but there are those who reside contently at the crossroads. That’s Susan Skarsgard. She’s an esteemed graphic designer in the automotive industry who is respected worldwide for her original fine art and work in design and calligraphy.

Works created by students and faculty members in WCC’s new ceramics studio will be exhibited at the College’s Gallery One from June 15 through July 17. The show is titled “New Beginning: Ceramics at Washtenaw Community College.”

On the first floor of the Crane Liberal Arts and Science building, a group of students is standing around, sketchpads in hand, studying a row of very large and colorful pictures of prehistoric animals. Geology students? Maybe. Biology class? Could be. But this particular group is an illustration class closely examining the styles of the various artists who contributed to this exhibit.

For some WCC students, Welcome Day in September is their first introduction to life on campus. Usually held shortly after classes begin, Welcome Day showcases a host of activities on campus that are open to everyone. A Welcome Day for Winter Semester will be held Wednesday, Jan. 27.